Course Descriptions

Semester Course Schedule Long-Term Program Dates Short-Term Program Dates Entrance Requirements Course Descriptions

HCL 655 Northwest Semitic Dialects - Credit Hours: 3

Semester normally offered: Alternate Fall Semesters

Course Description

Readings in Ammonite, Hebrew, Moabite and Phoenician inscriptions, with comparative observations on linguistic data.  Prerequisite: HCL 6/410 and HCL 6/411. Open to second-year M.A. students.

Course Equivalencies

This course fills equivalencies in the following areas:  

  • Semitic Languages

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

  • read Iron Age inscriptions in Hebrew, Old Aramaic (including Deir Alla’), Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, Ammonite and Edomite;
  • know the basics of the science of epigraphy;
  • have a basic understanding of Levantine dialect geography;
  • know how these languages fit into the larger framework of Comparative Semitics;
  • relate information gained to better understand the ancient Near East in general and the world of the Bible in particular; and
  • do further research in Northwest Semitic linguistics.

Field Study

A one-day interactive field study at a site where students can encounter biblical Hebrew texts, such as the Israel Museum or a synagogue.